Watch: Emirati artist loses work worth Dh5 million in Abu Dhabi fire

Abu Dhabi: “It was gut-wrenching,” recalled Abu Dhabi-based Jalal Luqman.

Pun unintended, the pioneering digital artist and sculptor from Abu Dhabi, is talking about a devastating fire that gutted all his art works, worth around Dh5 million, in May last year.

“I was on a walk when I heard the news of the fire in the warehouse that served as my studio. Thirty three years of my work were housed in there, and they were all up in flames. Nothing remained. Just imagine my plight. I was like a parent left childless,” the 58 year old told Gulf News.

But as he speaks, the sense of defiance is unmistakable. His is a story of a man who refused to let the fire destroy him, vowing as he did to bounce back despite the grave odds.

“Believe it or not, I did make that comeback within the six-month time frame that I gave myself,” he let on with pride.

Having lost over 140 works, that included everything from oils, canvases and water colours to digital art and sculptures, it was not easy for Luqman to start afresh. But he took up the challenge, reinvented himself with the help of Artificial Intelligence and made an emphatic statement for himself.

As it turns out, the grounding he received during his younger days held him in good stead.

Born and raised in Abu Dhabi, Luqman went to the US for his higher studies. Although he majored in international marketing and entrepreneurship, he minored in graphic design, thanks to an empathetic professor who encouraged him to study design after he found him sneaking into art classes at university in Oregon.

Little did Luqman know at the time that the learnings he amassed in all the three fields would come in handy as he journeyed through life.

Long credited to be the UAE’s first Emirati digital artist, Luqman was always ahead of his times and knew what it was to push the boundaries of artistic expression. He pioneered digital art in the UAE at a time when it was virtually unknown and had since 1996, taken Emirati art to the global stage, exhibiting his works in the US, Japan and other parts of the world.

He came to be known as the Iron Man of Art, with a signature style of melding digital techniques with industrial materials like metal and steel. The art apart, Luqman also created a niche for himself as an Emirati storyteller, with his art a reflection of his personal and national identity.

“Art is our history; it documents our struggles, our triumphs, and our evolution,” he would say.

But now, the aftermath of the fire gave birth to a more compelling narrative.

“I had two choices before me: Let the fire define me, or rise from it,” he said. Using AI and digital tools, he painstakingly reconstructed many of his lost works. He created immersive experiences from the remains of the fire. He worked in what he calls a vacuum, welding and sculpting molten metal to give it new life.

“It was not welcoming or beautiful – everything was in ruins,” he recollected. But his passion to reinvent himself was not lost as those in the know came knocking on his shattered doors.

The result was a powerful demonstration of his resilience in his comeback exhibition called What the Fire Left Behind, held between October 31 and November 11 last year.

“Visitors could actually feel the burning warehouse in the immersive experience I created,” he said.

Today, for those looking to explore Luqman’s work, his digital recreations are available on CIFRA — a global streaming platform based in Dubai, which actually documented in video Luqman’s work towards his comeback.

As the platform preserves and celebrates Luqman, his works continue to inspire, ensuring that even in the face of destruction, art and human resilience remain timeless. The works include three immersive experiences, three traditional artworks, 12 digitals forms of art with AI and 21 sculptures, all made from the remnants of the warehouse fire.

“Art is a great healer,” said Luqman. “Creativity is as much about adapting, evolving, and enduring. Life happens, but the tough keep going when the going gets tough. What I went through is enough to break anybody. But no one knows better than me that when we fall, it’s our will to rise that makes all the difference.”